


To Keep a Promise

by soldier_of_ice



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Deaths!, F/M, Insanity, Pain, Y/N//Reader dies, mentions of torture (Crucius(?) Curse)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-11 03:10:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10453647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldier_of_ice/pseuds/soldier_of_ice
Summary: Long ago, Draco Malfoy made you a promise, one he never intended to keep until he saw you tearing yourself apart and finally understood why you had asked for a promise that snowy, stormy day curled up in the Slytherin common room barely two years earlier.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshot! I'll be putting up a HP oneshot request book soon! Criticism, feedback and encouragement welcomed!

Silence reigned over the lake and grounds of what was a once-majestic castle, slipping among the ruins of dormitories and classrooms, the heavy presence of shadows accompanying it. Even the moonlight couldn’t hope to penetrate the heavy veil of desecration and horror that lay ingrained in the fallen halls and dining rooms.

The young woman stood on the lakeshore, her (e/c) gaze blank as she stared, but not saw, the glittering waves lapping at her feet. Emptiness reigned where purpose had once been visible.

 _“NO! NOT MY DAUGHTER!” The screams of Vanessa Mallory echoed through the room. Y/N ignored the screams of the chained, wandless Muggleborn, instead raising her own wand, chanting,_ “Crucio!”

_Now screams of the young girl’s mingled with her mother’s, invading Y/N’s head, twisting with her thoughts, pounding her relentlessly with guilt . . . How could she? . . . What had she done?_

The young woman collapsed with a scream, unable to keep standing. She buried her face in her hands with another scream, clawing at her face trying to tear the memories from her head as though she could if she tried hard enough.

_“Y/N!”_

A young man was running towards her as fast as he could upon hearing the screams. Try as he might, the wards against Apparation on Hogwarts grounds still stood.

His wand was up and ready to curse any enemies that dared to come near Y/N, but as he drew closer, he saw the true enemy — herself.

His wand clattered to the ground as he dropped beside her, tearing her hands away from her face.

“No! No!” She shrieked, struggling against his grip.

Draco pulled her close, ignoring the pinpricks of pain he felt as she clung to him her nails digging into his suit hard enough to hurt him, rocking her back and forth gently. “Y/N, it’s all over. You’re safe now.”

The lie seemed to shatter what was left of his heart. She was safe physically, he would make sure of that, but guilt and the infliction of the Crucius Curse upon her alread struggling mind (for she had always harboured doubts since the first Death Eater meeting Draco had taken her to) had driven her mind beyond the brink of insanity forever, making it attack her relentlessly with memories of agony and disgrace that would have made anyone mad.

“I won’t ever leave you, darling,” he murmured into her ear, but her mind was too far gone into her memories to hear his words.

She sobbed quietly into him, trembling all over from terror and pain, unable to hear or see Draco comprehendingly.

And that was the worst of it.

She would never escape the events of the Second Wizarding War, forever trapped in her own mind and deeds, never realizing her dreams of the past had become reality in the love of Draco Malfoy.

Y/N screamed again, her words begging for death, for release from the hell she was trapped in.

Tears slipped down Draco’s cheeks as he slowly, painfully, picked up his wand again. He had once made a promise to her, one he hadn’t intended to keep until he saw her in this moment that would never end unless he kept that long-ago promise.

“I’m so sorry, darling.” He whispered through his own choked sobs. He gently pulled you to a standing position, then backed up a few paces to see clearly, though that was near impossible through all of his tears. “I love you, Y/N L/N.”

He raised his wand once more, wishing he could shut his eyes but knowing he couldn’t, as your words flashed through his mind once more.

_“Draco?”_

_“Yes, love?”_

_“Promise me one thing?”_

_“Anything.”_

_“If I ever become incapable of taking care of myself . . . that is, should I ever . . . break because of the war, or anything else, I need you to . . .”_

_“What? What do I need to do, darling?”_

_“I need you to kill me.”_

Draco closed his eyes as your new scream ended abruptly, replacing agony with peace.

God, what had he done?


End file.
